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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27499054">Atomic</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/elvenoats/pseuds/elvenoats'>elvenoats</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alcohol, Bisexual Female Character, Drabble, Drunken Kissing, F/M, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Mutual Pining, Non-Canon Sole Survivor, Pre-Relationship, Recreational Drug Use, Sole is not Nora, sole is nate’s sister</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-08 02:34:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,111</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27499054</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/elvenoats/pseuds/elvenoats</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Eileen finally took out the bastard who killed her brother, but she still doesn’t have a clue how to get Shaun back. She and her companion stop for the night on the way back to Goodneighbor, Hancock and Eileen both need a hug.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>John Hancock (Fallout)/Original Female Character(s), John Hancock/Female Sole Survivor, John Hancock/Sole Survivor (Fallout)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Atomic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eileen was atomic. One touch and her nerves kicked in, full force and strong as ever. She hardly understood how she could feel her legs enough for the pins and needles to register, but somehow she could, and god it had been an incredibly long day. Mirelurks, she could do. Sniping at super mutants from a nearby rooftop, she could do, but one mention of Nate and her pulse began to raise a mile a minute. Every vein in Eileen’s body pumped gasoline, and her brother was the final match before the explosion. </p><p>They hadn’t had time to make it back to Goodneighbor after she’d blown Kellogg’s brains out, but the raider’s den they’d cleared out a few weeks back had some leftover piles of Jet and booze, and damn it if Hancock was the one to say no to a party. </p><p>It wasn’t a party of course, and he realized that now as he watched her shiver under the soft 2 o’clock moonlight. Every inhale she took looked like a killing blow, her eyes never leaving the sky as her shaky hand grasped the inhaler like a lifeline. The other was held firmly against his knee like a tether, a stark reminder that maybe she did have something to live for. Something other than revenge and chems, which they both knew she’d been using a bit too much lately. </p><p>Hancock worried for her, but he knew he wasn’t one to talk. He knew he wasn’t in any sort of position to worry for her either, and her friendship meant far too much to be thrown away because he couldn’t draw the boundaries between his emotions and reality. He would bring it up tomorrow, he decided. When the sun was out and her hands were still and her hair didn’t look so fucking pretty. </p><p>Empty gaze and quiet silence, Eileen was definitely not as soft as she looked. At least not at this moment. She needed to do something, to feel something. She could only take so much until she snapped and lost all control. Eileen needed something reckless, something thrilling. Something she feared in jitters and adrenaline, unlike the shakes and sobs that came from the harsh reality of the Commonwealth.</p><p>One look at the ghoul sat beside her and she’d made up her mind, feelings she’d pushed down crawling slowly up as she suddenly struggled to remember why she’d been avoiding them in the first place.</p><p>‘No, there’s no time to make a pros and cons list,’ Eileen thought. And then, just like that, she’d kissed him. </p><p>His lips weren’t soft, not like the college girls she’d kissed before opening night. It was messy, unlike the boys she’d kissed junior year of high school, back when she’d still been excited to let people in. It was rash, hasty, loud, and at least a dozen other words that Eileen knew she wasn’t smart enough to think of. It was them, and then, all of a sudden, it was over. He'd pulled away.</p><p>The seconds ticked loudly in Eileen’s mind as she waited for a response, closer to a time bomb than a clock. Her heart was pounding, her mind as clear and alert as it could be given her current state. She’d snapped, and now it was a waiting game of how much silence she could take before it happened again.</p><p>Hancock was torn. Every reason why he shouldn’t, every consequence if he did. They were floating through his mind quicker than he thought that radiation and chem soaked thing could ever manage. He knew damn well they were both more than tipsy, and he certainly knew to never take advantage of someone.</p><p>He didn’t know what Eileen wanted from him, but the glassy-eyed look on her face that begged for comfort certainly indicated that she wanted something. He hoped, prayed on Atom, the old god, or whatever other douchebag controlled the fate of the Commonwealth that she wanted as much as he did. That she wanted more than just a bit of comfort, more than one careless kiss in the dark. And then, before Hancock even noticed, he began to speak.</p><p>“Can… Can I?...” He asked.</p><p>“Yes,” she said, struck with a conviction she’d never felt before and the sudden realization that maybe this meant more to her than she’d thought it would. </p><p>A little reassurance and he always knew what to do again, funny how he seldom got that from anyone but her. Hancock gave one last nod and slowly began to lean in, lightly putting his hand on her cheek and giving her a look. He knew it wasn’t soft, but he hoped she’d understand the message: “We can stop this whenever you need to.” </p><p>Eileen hadn’t been expecting this, unfortunately, and quickly fell forward, her nose bumping directly into Hancock’s face as he staggered backwards from the blow, falling  back towards the edge of the porch. </p><p>‘Of course,’ Eileen thought. Despite the months she’d spent preparing to hold her own in the wasteland, she’d always be clumsy when it mattered. It didn’t, though, and not a second later did she realize precisely that.</p><p>Hancock sat back up, rubbed his cheek, looked at the girl sitting across from him, and laughed. He laughed louder than he had in awhile, and as soon as Eileen wiped the awestruck look off her face and realized he wasn’t laughing at her misfortune, she began to giggle along with him. </p><p>It was dark, and they were high, and the two seemed to have mutually decided that this was probably the funniest thing to have happened since before the bombs dropped, And as they looked at each other, suddenly, it all felt very right. </p><p>Hancock nudged himself closer to Eileen and offered his arm. A nod of affirmation and he’d wrapped them both around her shoulders, encompassing the girl in a warm hug. Eileen smiled softly and leaned into the ghoul before her, deciding then and there that this was much better than the kind of comfort she’d impulsively attempted earlier. No, this was soft, it was sweet, and it was just what they both needed. </p><p>“Another time, okay?” He said gently. “You need to rest.” </p><p>“Thank you,” she mumbled in return, taking this as an invitation to close her eyes where she was. Hancock knew she didn’t sleep well alone, and they had an ongoing offer to crawl in with the other if anyone’s nightmares were particularly bad. Slowly, Eileen began to drift into a peaceful sleep.</p><p>“You too, Sunshine.” Hancock whispered as he began to make his way back inside their hideout, Eileen curled gently in his arms. “Thank you.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hey!! this is a little drabble i wrote for my sole &amp; hancock. i mostly did it for fun but i didn’t hate how it turned out so i thought maybe id publish it? if people actually read this maybe ill post some more oneshots! anyone who’s reading this ily &amp; have a nice day!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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